The energy giant revealed that it would be increasing investment into gas and oil projects by about 20% to £7.9 billion a year, and decreasing its funding for renewables by more than £3.9 billion. Last month, BP also announced they would be cutting almost 5,000 jobs as part of an initiative aimed at saving up to £2 billion.
Leaders of BP's rivals, Shell and Equinor, also announced plans to scale back investments into green energy within the last three months.
The wave of companies scaling back their environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments comes amid Donald Trump’s return to US presidential office, and his call to “drill, baby, drill,” made during Trump's inaugural speech in January, underlining support for increased levels of fossil fuel extraction.
Dismissing sustainability efforts can be problematic further down the line, and HR leaders play an important role in safeguarding sustainability commitments, according to Sophie Lambin, CEO of sustainability consultancy, Kite Insights.
She told HR magazine that sustainability should remain a business priority: "Many leaders still think it's dismissible when in fact, it's a language every employee around the world should speak fluently by now.
Read more: Workers don’t believe employers’ ESG promises
“HR leaders can connect the innovation and sustainability agendas so that employees and employers aren’t caught flat-footed from regulatory change and undeniable environmental realities.”
In 2020, BP’s then chief executive, Bernard Looney, set ambitious targets to cut production of oil and gas by 40% by 2030, while ramping up investment into renewable energy. However, in 2023, the company lowered this target to 25%.
Scott Lane, CEO of ESG software platform, Speeki, emphasised the importance of HR professionals' role in defending sustainability efforts.
Speaking to HR magazine, he said: “Communication is key. HR has a pivotal role to play in engaging employees with a corporate sustainability strategy. [HR] forms the backbone of a company's internal ESG and sustainability messaging. It is responsible for helping employees to understand a corporate sustainability strategy and to recognise the role they have to play.”
When an organisation is scaling back its sustainability commitments, HR must continue its communication role, and make employees aware of any changes, Lane acknowledged. In cases where that communication is prioritised, “employees would be aware and be able to have their say – potentially preventing executives from going back on their sustainability promises,” he said.
Rolling back sustainability investments and initiatives can have an impact on employers’ ability to retain staff, according to Phil Korbel, co-founder of workplace climate training project, Carbon Literacy.
Read more: Sustainability job ads surge
Korbel told HR magazine: "This reckless pursuit of short-term profit ignores the commercial reality of needing to attract and retain the most talented staff.
“When over 50% of graduate entrants to the workplace demand purposeful employment, any employer placing themselves in a category of 'global polluter' is excluding themselves from this necessary pool of staff.”
Lane added that Gen Z accounts for more than a quarter of the global workforce already: "They're the future of the workforce. But if companies want to hire and retain young talent, then they’ll need to stay true to their sustainable promises. Rolling back any climate initiatives could easily see them lose key talent to their competitors.
“And there’s also the risk that going back on sustainability commitments will undermine employee trust in an organisation more broadly, fracturing employee-employer relationships and denting team morale.”
Lambin emphasised the importance of not following headlines and instead following trends when it comes to businesses safeguarding their green commitments.
She said: “There are still strong sustainability trendlines everywhere, gaining momentum in some instances. We find alliances and collective action – and true leadership – where we can."
